Portret van Johannes Rotlöben op 48-jarige leeftijd 1641

This engraving from 1641 by Dirk Diricks portrays Johannes Rotlöben at 48 years of age. Such a print would have served as a means of circulating his image among a wide social network. Consider the way the image creates meaning through visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations. The Latin inscription, the trappings of wealth and status. This is Northern European Protestant culture in the wake of the Reformation. Such images as this were the means of establishing prestige in the absence of Catholic iconolatry. What were the social conditions that shaped artistic production at this time? Rotlöben was a member of the court. This print thus partakes in the political life of the time. The politics of imagery. To fully understand it, we must look at the social and institutional context in which it was made, and consider how institutions shape the production and reception of art.